Money Matches
Tiger taking on Phil with millions of dollars on the line was a new chapter in a long tradition of big-money games featuring golf’s biggest stars
The final holes of “The Match,” pitting Tiger Woods against Phil Mickelson in 2018, were played in near darkness. The $9 million prize (in hundred-dollar bills) ultimately went to Mickelson.
When Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson teed it up for 10 million bucks this past May, there was pride on the line for the old rivals, but not money. Woods, paired with Peyton Manning, and Mickelson, with partner Tom Brady, were playing for charity, and the millions at stake would go to pandemic relief efforts, not to them. Tiger and Manning won “The Match 2,” but not the oversized check.
But back in 2018, things were quite different, and the cash on the line was all for the victor. The original “Match” pitting Tiger versus Phil, one-on-one, had $9 million on the line and it was winner take all. That was real money, a pile of hundreds stacked on a table with a red cloth …
